George Rodriguez, born in Laredo, and raised in San Antonio, attended and graduated from BYU in 1976. In 1981, he went to work in D.C. and worked in various capacities at the Justice Department during the Reagan Administration. He also worked with the White House Office of Public Liaison. He is now retired and continues to speak and write to further conservative policies and ideas.

Note: This is an mySA.com City Brights Blog. These blogs are not written or edited by mySA or the San Antonio Express-News. The authors are solely responsible for the content.

Chaos is NOT Government

Once again, liberals have used chaos and disruption as a tactic when they can’t use logic and the rule of law. A crowd of about 400 protestors disrupted and halted the proceedings in the Texas state legislature in Austin before a roll call vote on an anti-abortion bill could be completed.

The anti-abortion bill could have closed nearly all of the abortion clinics in the state, but liberal Texas state senator Wendy Davis (D) led to a 12 hour filibuster. The state senate had to complete the vote before the special session ended at midnight, Austin time.

However, in a typical Saul Alinsky tactic, more than 400 protesters disrupted the roll call vote proceedings 15 minutes before it could be completed. The protesters called their childish, chaotic behavior a “people’s filibuster”, which is par for liberals who see “good as bad and bad as good”.

The liberal pro-abortion crowd cried “Shame! Shame!” when Davis’ filibuster was properly and legally halted by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who ruled that her discussion of mandatory ultrasound testing was off-topic. If anyone should ashamed, it should be the ill-behaved protestors and state senator Leticia Van De Putte (D) of San Antonio who screamed in a melodramatic manner, “At what point must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over her male colleagues?” When logic and the rule of law don’t fit the needs of liberals’ agenda, they become emotional, dramatic, and disruptive, like a child who throws a tantrum. They truly believe in the phrase “by any means necessary”.

The protestors’ public tantrum continued until after the midnight deadline passed, which was their tactic and intention.
On the other hand Republicans followed the rules of the legislature. While some GOP lawmakers claimed the bill had passed in time, the Democrats insisted the vote was NOT completed before the clock ran out on the session, and thus the bill was dead. Lt. Gov. Dewhurst later reviewed the voting and found that some votes had been cast after the midnight deadline, and thus the bill was dead.

Conservatives must not let this tactic of chaos and disruptions succeed. For example, two months ago, while participating in a debate on immigration, protesters disrupted the debate when my liberal opponents could not logically argue their position. In 2003, eleven Texas state senate Democrats fled to New Mexico to prevent the passage of legislation they did not support.

The rule of law, like the rules of legislative proceeding, is what has made America the great nation of peace and liberty. We cannot let any groups threaten the peace when their agenda is not supported, and we cannot let the poor behavior in Austin be rewarded with a victory.

We should applaud Texas Governor Rick Perry for recalling the state legislature and complete the vote on this bill in a proper and civil manner. We must never let loud, rude, disruptive and chaotic behavior become an acceptable part of American politics.